This invention generally relates to bait fishing apparatus, including a fishing rod and baited line, and deals more particularly with novel means for providing reliable indication of the existence of a fish bite.
Traditionally, fishermen have attempted to detect the existence of a fish bite by watching the rod tip for flexing movement induced by sudden line tension caused by the bite, or by directly sensing this sudden tension by holding the line between the fingers to "feel" the bite. The use of the rod tip to indicate a bite usually necessitates that the rod be held in a special position and is often ineffective to signal small nibbles or gentle bites which may be insufficient to cause the rod tip to flex. Holding the line with the fingers is effective under some circumstances, but this approach requires that the line be attended by the fisherman, and restricts his freedom of movement while waiting for a bite to occur. The problem of detecting a fish bite is often complicated by various environmental conditions which are commonly encountered, such as waves on the surface of the water or wind currents; either of these conditions can cause stretches of the line between the rod and the bait to waiver back and forth, or in the case of strong, steady wind currents, these stretches of the line may be maintained in a constant bowed condition, even when a tension force is applied at either end of the line, as when a fish takes the bait or when the line is at least partially reeled in by the fisherman.
Others have been aware for some time of the problem of detecting a fish bite as evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,023,532; 3,143,822, and 3,916,554, which disclose various types of apparatus adapted to be used with a rod and line combination for indicating the existence of a bite on the line. Each of the devices in the above-noted prior art patents is sensitive to the application of tension on the line which occurs when a fish moves the bait in a direction away from the rod, and function to produce a visual signal when a prescribed tension has been imposed on the line. However, these prior art devices are less than completely satisfactory since line tension produced by waves or wind can give rise to faulty indications of a bite; moreover, none of these previous indicators is operative to signal a bite when the fish is taking and moving the bait in a direction toward the rod.
The present invention overcomes the above-mentioned deficiencies inherent in prior art indicator designs and provides an especially simple but significantly improved means of indicating the existence of a fish bite. According to the present invention, a portion of the line along the rod is trained through an aperture in a weighted slack ring device which slidably engages the line between a pair of guide ferrules on the rod, and functions to create a slack portion in the line along the rod. The slack ring device is swively tethered to a standoff element secured to the rod adjacent the slack portion of the line, and functions to limit the downward travel of the slack ring device, and thereby control the amount of line which is included in the slack portion thereof. In the absence of a bite condition, the slack ring device is suspended from the line and remains stationary. Under adverse environmental conditions when waves or wind cause the line to waiver thereby varying the tension in the slack portion of the line, the line slides to-and-fro through the slack ring device, and the latter remains essentially stationary. However, under a bite condition when the fish moves the bait in a direction away from the rod, the slack ring device sharply shifts in elevation thereby indicating the presence of the bite; moreover, when the fish moves the bait in a direction toward the rod, the slack ring device likewise sharply shifts in elevation thereby positively signaling the presence of the bite. As a futher feature of the invention, the rod may be supported at a prescribed angle by means of an upright support element removably mounted on a portable base such as a tackle box.
A primary object of the invention is to provide unique apparatus for indicating the presence of a fish bite.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an indicator assembly for signaling the existence of a fish bite which is particularly simple in construction and is not subject to giving rise to false indications as a result of wind currents or water waves acting to produce tension in the fishing line.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an indicator assembly of the mentioned type which is effective in signalling a condition when a fish moves the bait at the end of the line in a direction toward the rod, thereby lessening the tension in the fishing line.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide apparatus of the mentioned type which is effective in signalling slight degrees of movement of the bait, even when the line between the bait and the rod is maintained in a bowed condition by heavy wind currents.
Another object of the invention is to provide means for releasably holding the indicator assembly on the rod in a manner which does not interfere with the casting of the line.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a rod holder including an upright rod support removably mounted on a portable base, such as a tackle box.
Other and further objects of the invention will be made clear or become apparent in the course of the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.